I offer services on a private pay basis, in order to protect your privacy and to personalize your therapy.
Other possible options:
Check with your insurance provider to see if they will pay for services out of their network for your specific plan. I offer a receipt for your session payments that you can submit to your insurance company for reimbursement. Other possible options your policy may include are using funds in your flex spending, health savings account, or medical savings account.
Important questions to ask your insurance provider:
- Do I have mental health insurance benefits?
- Am I required to get approval from my primary care physician to receive therapy?
- How much will they pay per session?
- How many sessions per year will be covered by my provider?
- What is my deductible? Has it been met?
Session Fees:
- $78 – 30 minute session
- $130 – 50 minute session
- $26 – each additional 10 minutes beyond scheduled session time
- $50 – 90 minute group session
I can accommodate some time slots for people with limited income. If this is the case for you at this time, let’s talk about options during a free, 20-minute consultation.
Fees will be charged after each session, to the credit card number you provide me. I accept Visa, MasterCard, and Discover for payments.
When making the choice of whether or not to use insurance, consider the following:
When you use insurance, you must be given a mental health diagnosis in order for services to be paid. In this case, your insurance company has access to your confidential records, which are stored in a database. Anyone who has a legitimate reason to access this database can view your records, including insurance companies and future employers.
If you are seeking couples therapy using insurance, one person in the couple must receive a diagnosis, with the other partner involved to support the diagnosed partner. Often, couples come in for services to improve the health of their relationship, when no diagnosis is appropriate.
If an insurance claim is denied, the appeals process can take a long time, and in the end, can leave you with the bill. By the time the process is completed, you may have had many sessions for which you are now financially responsible.
Having a diagnosis can impact your ability to get life, health, disability, and long-term care insurance. With private pay, your information is not released to the Medical Information Bureau (MIB). If you do receive a diagnosis, that information will stay between us, within the laws of confidentiality.
When an insurance company is involved, they determine what they think is a necessary treatment for you, leaving both of us with fewer options for the content and length of therapy.
If you have a large deductible and don’t use enough medical services in a year to reach the deductible, you’ll be paying out of pocket for therapy services anyway, without the freedoms of private pay therapy.
Benefits of private pay services:
You have the freedom to choose who you want to work with, as opposed to an insurance company restricting your choices.
No billing surprises! You pay for therapy sessions as you use them.
The medical model system does not guide your therapy experience, giving you and your therapist control over the content and length of therapy, and giving you a therapeutic experience that is much more personalized and effective.